body

alkapton b's a class of substances with an affinity for alkali, found in the urine and causing the condition known as alkaptonuria. The compound commonly found, and most commonly referred to by the term, is homogentisic acid.

amygdaloid body a small mass of subcortical gray matter within the tip of the temporal lobe, anterior to the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle of the brain. It is part of the limbic system.

aortic b's small neurovascular structures on either side of the aorta in the region of the aortic arch, containing chemoreceptors that play a role in reflex regulation of respiration.

asbestos b's golden yellow bodies of various shapes, formed by the deposition of calcium salts, iron salts, and proteins on a spicule of asbestos, found in the lungs, lung secretions, and feces of patients with asbestosis.

Aschoff b's submiliary collections of cells and leukocytes in the interstitial tissues of the heart in the myocarditis that accompanies rheumatic fever; called also Aschoff's nodules.

asteroid body an irregularly star-shaped inclusion body found in the giant cells in sarcoidosis and other diseases.

basal body a modified centriole that occurs at the base of a flagellum or cilium.

carotid b's small neurovascular structures lying in the bifurcation of the right and left carotid arteries, containing chemoreceptors that monitor the oxygen content of the blood and help to regulate respiration.

Donovan b's encapsulated bacteria (Calymmatobacterium granulomatis) found in lesions of granuloma inguinale, visible when a Wright-stained smear of infected tissue is viewed under a microscope.

body dysmorphic disorder a somatoform disorder in which a normal-appearing person is either preoccupied with an imagined defect in appearance or is overly concerned about a very slight physical anomaly. See also body image. Called also dysmorphophobia.

foreign body a mass of material that is not normal to the place where it is found.

fruiting body a specialized structure of certain fungi that produces the spores.

geniculate body, lateral either of the two metathalamus eminences, one on each side just lateral to the medial geniculate bodies, marking the termination of the optic tract.

geniculate body, medial either of the two metathalamus eminences, one on each side just lateral to the superior colliculi, concerned with hearing.

hematoxylin body a dense, homogeneous particle, easily stainable with hematoxylin, consisting of nuclear material derived from an injured cell together with a small amount of cytoplasm. Hematoxylin bodies occur in systemic lupus erythematosus. Lymphocytes that ingest such particles are known as le cells. Called also LE body.

Howell's b's (Howell-Jolly b's) smooth, round remnants of nuclear chromatin seen in erythrocytes in megaloblastic and hemolytic anemia, in various leukemias and after splenectomy.

body image the total concept, including conscious and unconscious feelings, thoughts, and perceptions, that a person has of his or her own body as an object in space independent and apart from other objects. The body image develops during infancy and childhood from exploration of the body surface and orifices, from development of physical abilities, and from play and comparison of the self with others. Changes in body image are particularly important in adolescence when attention is focused on appearance and attractiveness and relations with others. Body image is strongly influenced by parental attitudes that give the child a perception of certain body parts as good, clean, and attractive, or bad, dirty, and repulsive. The evolution of body image continues throughout life and incorporates such factors as a person's style of dress, hair style, and use of makeup, which symbolize social and professional status and other feelings about the self.

Many clinical syndromes involve disturbances of body image. Disturbed body image is a nursing diagnosis that was approved by the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association, defined as confusion in the mental picture of one's physical self. Surgery or trauma involving disfigurement or loss of a body part can be very threatening to a patient. Diseases involving a loss of body function, such as stroke syndrome, paraplegia, quadriplegia, coronary heart disease, and bowel or bladder incontinence, and diseases involving disfiguring skin lesions or the feeling of “rotting away” as in cancer or gangrene, can all cause changes in body image. Body image is frequently disturbed in schizophrenia, and patients may feel that their body or its parts are changing in size or shape or are ugly or threatening. Rape or violent physical assault can disturb the feeling of being secure in one's own body. Changes in body image involving sexual attractiveness or sexual identity, such as surgery or trauma involving the genitals or breasts and tubal ligation, hysterectomy, or vasectomy, can be especially difficult for the patient to deal with. Intrusive therapeutic or diagnostic procedures, such as insertion of a nasogastric tube, bladder catheterization, administration of intravenous fluids, endoscopy, and cardiac catheterization, can also threaten a patient's body image.

The reaction of a patient to an alteration in body image can include mourning the loss of the former body image, fear of rejection by significant others, hostility, and experiencing of “phantom” sensations from missing body parts. Patients with less ability to cope with their loss may respond with denial or depression. This can lead to a rejection of the altered body image and feelings of depersonalization that can involve avoidance of interpersonal contact and an unwillingness to discuss the deformity or to accept corrective medical treatment or vocational rehabilitation.

inclusion b's round, oval, or irregular-shaped bodies in the cytoplasm and nuclei of cells, as in disease caused by viral infection, such as rabies, smallpox, and herpes.

mamillary body (mammillary body) either of the pair of small spherical masses in the interpeduncular fossa of the midbrain, forming part of the hypothalamus.

Masson b's cellular tissue that fills the pulmonary alveoli and alveolar ducts in rheumatic pneumonia; they may be modified Aschoff's bodies.

molluscum b's large homogeneous intracytoplasmic inclusions found in the stratum granulosum and stratum corneum in molluscum contagiosum, which contain replicating virus particles and cellular debris.

multilamellar body any of the osmiophilic, lipid-rich, layered bodies found in the great alveolar cells of the lung.

Negri b's oval or round bodies in the nerve cells of animals dead of rabies.

Nissl b's large granular bodies that stain with basic dyes, forming the reticular substance of the cytoplasm of neurons, composed of rough endoplasmic reticulum and free polyribosomes; ribonucleoprotein is one of their main constituents. Called also Nissl's granules.

1. the small cells consisting of a tiny bit of cytoplasm and a nucleus; they result from unequal division of the primary oocyte (first polar body) and, if fertilization occurs, of the secondary oocyte (second polar body).

2. metachromatic granules located at one or both ends of a bacterial cell.

psammoma b's usually microscopic, laminated masses of calcareous material, occurring in both benign and malignant epithelial and connective-tissue tumors, and sometimes associated with chronic inflammation.

mam·mil·lar·y bod·y

[TA]

a small, round, paired cell group that protrudes into the interpeduncular fossa from the inferior aspect of the hypothalamus. It receives hippocampal fibers through the fornix and projects fibers to the anterior thalamic nuclei and into the brainstem tegmentum.

mam·mil·lar·y bod·y

(mam'i-lar-ē bod'ē) [TA]

A small, round, paired cell group that protrudes into the interpeduncular fossa from the inferior aspect of the hypothalamus. It receives hippocampal fibers through the fornix and projects fibers to the anterior thalamic nuclei and into the brainstem tegmentum. Synonym(s): corpus mammillare [TA] .

mammillary body

(mam'i-ler?e)

A spherical complex of hypothalamic nuclei that bulges out of the base of the brain behind the pituitary gland on either side of the midline. The mammillary body is an integral component of the limbic circuitry, receiving signals from the hippocampus via the fornix and sending signals to the anterior thalamus via the mammillothalamic tract.

mammillary body

(mam'i-ler?e)

A spherical complex of hypothalamic nuclei that bulges out of the base of the brain behind the pituitary gland on either side of the midline. The mammillary body is an integral component of the limbic circuitry, receiving signals from the hippocampus via the fornix and sending signals to the anterior thalamus via the mammillothalamic tract.

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